Brought to you by Quest Offshore & Southern Cone Consultants

Shell Smashes Estimates as BG Acquisition Drives Up Output

Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported third-quarter profit that beat analyst estimates after its acquisition of BG Group Plc boosted oil production, helping to counter a slump in prices. The shares rose.

Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes advanced 17 percent from a year earlier to $2.79 billion, Shell said Tuesday. That exceeded the $1.79 billion average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, and the earnings of U.S. giant Exxon Mobil Corp. U.K. competitor BP Plc reported a 49 percent slump in profit.